Asia Society, with International Alliance for Women in Music, World Music Institute, and Thomas Buckner's Interpretations, presents "Asian Women in Music Today," featuring artists Michiko Akao from Japan, Jin Hi Kim from Korea, Nithyasree Mahadevan from India, Min Xiao-Fen from China, and Ni Ketut Suryatini from Indonesia. Pioneering, new music created within indigenous traditions will be highlighted in two concerts and a panel discussion at the Asia Society. Tickets for concerts, on Friday and Saturday, October 22 and 23 at 8:00 P.M. are $20 ($16 members). For the panel discussion, at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, October 23, tickets are $10 ($5 members). Tickets are available at the Asia Society box office, (212) 517-ASIA.

According to Rachel Cooper, Associate Director of Performing Arts at the Asia Society, "Because of the pervasiveness of Western cultural values, many Asian musicians have adopted Western styles and have left behind their own cultural traditions. These concerts highlight the recent work of five musicians who perform on traditional instruments to present new music created out of tradition. The panel discussion will explore the changing roles of women in music, and in particular the contributions contemporary women musicians make and the challenges they face in their own countries."

The program was conceived by Jin Hi Kim. Jin Hi Kim is highly acclaimed as both a komungo (a fourth-century Korean zither) virtuoso and for her cross-cultural compositions. Her music has been performed in the U.S. at venues including: Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Walker Art Center, among others.

Michiko Akao has been recognized internationally as one of Japan?s leading musicians for her ability to synthesize a wide variety of musical traditions on the yokubue (Noh flute) in the creation and performance of contemporary music. Trained in classical forms she interprets new music with her traditional instrument, performing to audiences throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.

Nithyasree Mahadevan is an accomplished musician and singer from India. She has been performing since 1987 throughout India, as well as in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the U.S. Her improvisational vocal techniques have gained recognition within South Indian Carnatic music circles.

Min Xiao-Fen was a pipa soloist with the famed Nanjing National Music Orchestra and a top prizewinner at pipa competitions throughout China. Since her arrival in the U.S. in 1992, she has worked with the New York City Opera, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the San Francisco Opera Symphony Orchestra, and others. Her recent performances have included a composition by Tan Dun, whose work she will also perform at the Asia Society on November 13 with violinist Cho-Liang Lin.

Ni Ketut Suryatini is one of the only contemporary woman composers in Bali. She is a specialist in traditional vocal music, and gender wayang (shadow puppet theater). After graduating from SMKI, the performing arts high school, she went on to STSI, the performing academy of Bali, where she is now a faculty member of the music department. Her renowned Composition for Twelve Gender was premiered at the Jakarta New Composers Festival in 1986. This fall she is teaching Balinese music at Bard College.

The Asia Society is America's leading institution dedicated to fostering understanding of Asia and communication between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. A nonprofit, nonpartisan educational institution, the Asia Society presents a wide range of programs including major art exhibitions, performances, media programs, international conferences and lectures, and initiatives to improve elementary and secondary education about Asia.

The Asia Society is headquartered in New York City, with regional centers in Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Melbourne, Australia, and representative offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Manila and Shanghai. For more information, contact the Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021. (212) 288-6400. (www.asiasociety.org).

The International Alliance for Women in Music is a coalition of professional composers, conductors, performers, musicologists, educators, librarians, and lovers of music, men as well as women. It supports the activities of women in music by encouraging the publication and distribution of music by women composers; supporting performances and recordings of women composers; fostering scholarly research on women-in-music topics; facilitating communication among members and with other organizations; implementing various broadcast series, competitions and educational programs; encouraging member participation in other composer groups, and initiating advocacy work on behalf of women in music.

World Music Institute encourages cultural exchange between nations and ethnic groups; supports traditional music by providing opportunities for visiting and local artists; presents to the American public the finest in traditional and contemporary music and dance from around the world; and collaborates with community organizations and academic institutions in fostering greater understanding of the world's music and dance traditions.

Thomas Buckner's Interpretations series, started in 1989, focuses on the relationship between contemporary composers and their interpreters. The series provides a platform for some of the most creative music of our time, along with the opportunity for an audience to experience it in an environment befitting its vitality. Sometimes the interpreters are the composers themselves. More often, the series features performers who specialize in the interpretation of new music, in an attempt to develop, encourage and recognize the community of new music specialists.